Vacuum cleaner



o..Ho M-HANSEN 2,312,905

March 2 1943.

' VACUUM CLEANER voriginal Filed oci. 25, 1940 .s H @man hdm WHW@ d lmwun Ww in a bracket 1 fixed `Patented Mar. 2, 1943 atrasos VACUUM CLEANER iilsmandl Holm-Hansen, signor to General Elec tion oi New Yaris Bridgeport, Conn., mtric Company, acorpora- Gontinmation or application Serial No. 362,729,

@catcher 25, 1940.

This

isn, sensi Ns. nana (ci. 15u-1s) nozzle, and for a consideration of what I Ioelieve novel and my invention, attention is directed to the following description and the claims appended thereto.

YIn the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a' side elevation, partly in section, of avacuum cleaner embodying my invention; plan view of the vacuum cleaner; and Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged views illustrating the operation of the nozzle adjustment.

Referring tothe drawing, there is showna vacuum Vcleaner having a casing I containing a motor driven suction fan for creating a suction I at, a suction nozzle 2 which is supported above the surface to be cleaned by front and rear supporting'wheels 3 and 4. The cleaner is moved -by a handle attached to a fork 5 pivoted at 6 on the casing. The rear wheels I are, supported to the casing, and the front wheels 3 are xed to an axle 8 rotatably carried in arms 9 pinned to a rock shaft I0 journaled in bosses II on the under side of the casing.

Fixed to the under side of the casing are a pair of cylinders I2 connected by conduits I3 Fig. 2 is a bottom/4 v been found is the application August 29,4

id. The upper ends of the pins 23 and 23a bear on the under-sides of the wedges '2l and 29a. The lower ends of the pins 23 and 23a bear on eccentrics 25 and 25a rotatable in clearance holesii in the free ends of the arms 25 and 2da. When the cleaner is in use, the suction at the nozzle acts through' the pistons i6 to move the wedges 2i and 2id to such -position that the suction at the nozzle is maintained ata constant value determined by the tension'of 'the springs Il. As ther-cleaner is moved over carpets of varying thicknesses, the Wheels sink into the nap of the carpet and different nozzle4r adjustments are required if the cleaning eiiciency is to be above described arrangement cally adjust the position of maintain constant tends'to automatithe nozzle so as to most desirable conditior for eicient cleaning.

In .previous constructions for automatically'v adjusting the suction nozzle it has been found that due to friction in the moving parts the force required to adjust the nozzle was subject .l to a wide variation. It has accordingly been ldiillcult to devise a control for automatically adjusting `the nozzle which had the required degree of at vth'e same time able to sensitivity and was move the wheels so A as to properly adjust the suction nozzle.

In the present construction, for

` example, the'wedges 2| and 2Ia would have some of the suction nozzle. In the cylinders I2 are pistons I8 which are biased to the right, as

viewed in Fig. 1, by compression springs AII. 'I'he suction at the suction nozzle acts through the conduits I2 and Id and tends to move the pistons I8 to the deft. Theposition of the pistons I6 in the cylinders I2 is accordingly dependent upon the suction at the suction nozzle. The pistons are connected by a link I8 at the mid-point of which is pivoted the tongue I9 of an equalizer bar 20'. The ends of the-equalizer bar 20 are pivotalLv connected to wedges 2| and 2Ia slidably carried in guides 22 on the under side of the cleaner casing. pendently movable in that iffonaof the wedges is held stationary, the other wedgewill be moved by the pistons I6 acting through the link I8 and the equalizer bar 20. The weight of the cleaner casing is transmitted to the front supporting wheels 3 through pins 23 and 23a slidably carried in arms 24 and 24a The wedges 2| and 2Ia are indetendency to stickin the guides 22 and hold the nozzle in the wrong position. This difllculty is avoided by the eccentrics 25 and 25a which are spacedf apart'on the wheel axle 8 y so that when .the high part 26 of one of the eccentrics is uppermost, the low part 21 of the other eccentric is uppermost. The operation of the eccentrics is illustrated in the enlarged and somewhat exaggerated Figs. 3 and^ 4 where the high part 26 of the eccentric 25 and the low part 21 of the eccentric 25a are uppermost. Under this condition the vacuum cleaner nozzle is supported on the axle 8 su Vstantiallywholly by the pin 23 which is between the high part 28 of the eccentric 25 and the adjacent wedge 2|, while the pin 23a-has 'dropped down onto the lowv part 21 of the eccentric 25a providing a clearance' between the upper end of the pin and the Wedge 2Ia so this wedge can be easilymoved by the pistons I B to the proper position ,for maintaining con-A xed tothe axle 3 and" maintained. TheA nozzle `suction which it has from the position shown in one aspect this can be considered as an arrangement for temporarily removing the load from the automatic nozzle adjustment' mechanism or for reducing the resistance to movement of such mechanism. 'Since the axle 8 turns with the front supporting wheels 3, each of the wedges 2| and 2la is in the unloaded condition once during each .revolution of the wheels. By means of the above described arrangement it is possible to use a sensitive nozzle adjustment device, such as the suction responsive pistons I8, and to obtain the proper nozzle adjustment under all conditions of operation;

' What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In a vacuum cleaner having a suction nozzle, supporting wheels, means supporting the nozzle on said wheels including an adjustable support whereby the height of the nozzle above the surface being cleaned may be varied, automatic means tending to adjust said support'to a predetermined position, and means operated by rotation of the wheels for4 periodically supporting the nozzle independent of said support whereby said support may be more readily adjusted,

2. In a vacuum cleaner having a suction nozzle, supporting wheels, adjustable means supporting the nozzle on said wheels whereby the height of the nozzle above the surface being cleaned may be varied, means responsive to the suction at the nozzle tending to adjust said `ad justable means to a position of constant suction, another support for the nozzle movable toward and away from a supporting position and effective while in the supporting position to remove load from said adjusting means, an'd means for periodically moving said second support toward and away from the supporting position whereby the adjusting' means may be more readily adiusted. 3. In a vacuum cleaner having a suction nozzle, supporting wheels, independently movable the nozzle and said wheels, said members being adjustable to vary the height of the nozzle above the surface being cleaned, means effective during the use of the cleaner for periodically shifting the weight-of members to unload the same whereby it may be more easily adjusted, and automatic means tending to adjust said members to a position corresponding to a predetermined nozzle adjustment.

4. In a. vacuum cleaner having a suction nozzle, supporting wheels, independently movable members, means including eccentrics rotatable with the wheels for cooperating with said members to transfer the weight of the cleaner to said wheels, said members being adjustable to vary the height of the nozzle above the surface being cleaned and said eccentrics being angularly displaced whereby the distribution -of the weight of the cleaner between said members varies during the rotation of the eccentrics, and automatic means tending to adjust said members to a position corresponding to a predetermined nozzle adjustment.

' operation with said members to transfer the weight transmitting members arranged between.

the cleaner from one of said weight of the cleaner to said wheels, said means having angularly displaced projections cooperatl ing with said members and said members being f adjustable to vary the height of the nozzle above the surface being cleaned, and automatic ymeans tending to adjust said members to a position corresponding to a predetermined nozzle adjustment.

6. In a vacuum cleaner having a suction nozzle, supporting wheels adjustable to vary the height of the nozzle above the surface being cleaned, an axle carrying said wheels, angularly displaced projections on said axle, independently movable wedges cooperating with each of said projections to transfer the-weight of the cleaner to said axle, and automatic means tending to move said wedges to a position corresponding to a predetermined nozzle adjustment.

'7. In a vacuum cleaner having a suction nozzle, supporting wheels adjustable to vary the height of the nozzle above the surface being cleaned, an axle carrying said wheels, angularly displaced projections on said axle, independently movable wedges cooperating with each of said projections to transfer the weight of the cleaner to said axle, and means responsive to the suction at the nozzle tending to move said wedges to a position corresponding to a predetermined nozzle suction. y

OSMUND HOLM-HANSEN. 

